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Does €1 Per Prescription Make a Difference? Impact of a Capped Low-Intensity Pharmaceutical Co-Payment

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BackgroundIncreasing patient contributions and reducing the population exempt from pharmaceutical co-payment and co-insurance rates were one of the most common measures in the reforms adopted in Europe during 2010–2015.ObjectiveWe estimated… Click to show full abstract

BackgroundIncreasing patient contributions and reducing the population exempt from pharmaceutical co-payment and co-insurance rates were one of the most common measures in the reforms adopted in Europe during 2010–2015.ObjectiveWe estimated the association between the introduction of a capped co-payment of €1 per prescription and drug consumption of the publicly insured population of Catalonia (Spain).MethodsWe used administrative data on monthly pharmaceutical consumption (defined daily doses [DDDs]) from January 2012 to December 2014, for a representative sample of 85,000 people.ResultsOur results showed that consumption increased in the 2 months previous to the introduction of the measure, and fell with the introduction of the ‘Euro per prescription’ co-payment. The average net response associated with the reform (including anticipation) was a reduction of 4.1 DDDs per person per month, representing a 6.4% reduction. The decrease in pharmaceutical consumption was larger for those individuals who had free medicines prior to the reform compared with those who already paid a co-insurance rate (9.7 vs. 1.4 DDDs per person per month). The largest reduction in DDDs per person occurred in the following groups: dermatologic drugs, antihypertensives, non-insulin antidiabetic drugs, insulin antidiabetic drugs, and laxatives.ConclusionA uniform capped low co-payment may give rise to a major reduction in drug consumption to a much greater extent among those who previously had free prescriptions.

Keywords: payment; per prescription; pharmaceutical payment; consumption; capped low

Journal Title: Applied Health Economics and Health Policy
Year Published: 2018

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